Strawberries
by xjabberwockyxpeacex
Summary: <html><head></head>Misa wonders why L likes strawberries so much. She gets a surprising answer.</html>


**I honestly have no idea where this came from. I haven't even finished reading the manga yet, or even started the anime. (I do read spoilers, however, so I pretty much know most of what's going to happen. It couldn't be helped; I may have a problem.) But I'm so in love with this series and this pairing in particular that I couldn't help myself.**

**I don't own Death Note.**

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><p>"Can I ask you a question, Ryuzaki?"<p>

L kept his sights fixed on the array of food set out on the coffee table, eyes wandering over each dessert with anticipation. Sometimes, the choice was so difficult to make. "Is Misa-san not already doing so?"

Misa sighed, rolling her eyes. She switched positions on the sofa, leaning on her left side now with her legs tucked under her. "You know what I mean."

The cake looked delectable, but the strawberries were breathtaking. The result of the sugar-filled battle in his mind was set. He picked up the plate of strawberries. "You have every right to ask any question you want, Misa-san. I would not stop you."

The man beside her was so brilliant, had so much genius and determination in him like her Light, and yet, the man beside her, busy sucking on a strawberry, was nothing like Light at all. Light was remarkable. A natural leader. A man of stature, of class, of strength and power and everything for the future. He had manners. He had style. He had an air of majesty.

He had her, if he ever wanted her.

The man beside her was everything else she couldn't name. He was obscure. His air was of mystery.

"Why do you like strawberries so much?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

L froze in his nibbling to look at her. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

She almost smirked. She had just confused the mastermind. "Misa only means… you don't eat them the way normal people do. You don't scarf them down, but you take your time with them. You can't really enjoy eating fruit _that_ much, can you?"

L seemed to ponder this. "Well, I suppose I do, actually."

"But why?"

"Wouldn't you want to savor your favorite delicacy, Misa-san? Wouldn't you want to endure every bite as if they were your last? To me, strawberries are heavenly. To me, they bring happiness. To me, they are… they are like a lover."

This was the last thing Misa had ever expected to hear from him. Instinctively, her face flamed, for the mere mention of such things coming from _him_, of all people, sounded scandalous. "A-a lover?"

He nodded, moving on to another strawberry. "They're rich and sweet, but not too sweet. They are the forbidden fruit. They are bright and spark every sensation, every feeling you have ever felt." With a piece of the fruit in question in his mouth, he raised another to his eyes, merely to stare at. "And would you not want to make every moment with a lover last, Misa-san?"

She gulped, rubbing her reddened neck and avoiding his gaze when he flicked it to her. "Erm, well…"

L then took her by even more surprise. He leaped off his end of the sofa, crouching down much closer to her, only inches away. The strawberry he'd been watching like a hawk, he now held out to her. "Misa-san is very much like a strawberry," he said softly.

She sat there, stunned. "I—she is?"

"Yes. She is sweet, but tart as well. She can deceive. She brings out a spark. She is lovely—no, beautiful." He blinked. "And right now, she is just as red."

If she wasn't blushing before (and unless the room was just particularly warm, the likelihood of that was highly unlikely), she was most definitely blushing now. Her arm gained a life of its own in her temporary shut-down, and her hand went out to take the strawberry from him. He dropped it into her palm and closed her fingers around it.

They turned back to the dessert-filled coffee table, munching on their strawberries in silence. Misa realized that strawberries did taste much better when she took her time about it. She realized she liked strawberries—quite a lot, in fact.

The man beside her was nothing like Light.

Light did not like strawberries.


End file.
